Czech police charge 18 neo-Nazis, some allegedly preparing a terrorist attack

Detectives from the Organized Crime Detection Unit (Útvar pro odhalování organizovaného zločinu - ÚOOZ) have charged a total of 18 people with supporting and promoting a movement aimed at suppressing human rights and freedoms after house searches conducted Wednesday. One man and one woman remain in custody. ÚOOZ head Robert Šlachta made the announcement at a press conference today, adding that neither the number of those charged nor the extent of the charges are necessarily final. He also said this is the first time officers have ever suspected extreme-right adherents of preparing a terrorist attack.

Wednesday’s raid, during which officers arrested a total of 24 people, concerned three separate criminal cases. The first one involved police arresting 12 people in Dobříš, Prague, Tábor and several other towns who are allegedly linked to the neo-Nazi organization White Justice. The ÚOOZ has determined that this organization is connected to National Resistance and aims to spread the ultra-right ideology through violence. Of the 12 people arrested, police charged 10 and released them on their own recognizance.

In the second case, officers arrested six people in Kladno and in Prague and subsequently charged two of them with allegedly distributing materials promoting National Resistance. As Romea.cz reported earlier, they are Patrik Vondrák, leader of the Workers’ Party in Prague, and Michaela Dupová, head of the neo-Nazi organization Resistance Women Unity (RWU).

The third case concerns six people who have allegedly participated in organizing 14 White Power concerts. They were also released on their own recognizance.